MIAMI – Scores of abandoned dogs in South Florida would typically be at Miami-Dade Animal Services, but instead they are at Felix Varela High School.
A mix of veterinarian tech school students and the Friends Forever Rescue group helped make it happen.
"We all get hands-on practice with the dogs, we do labs in class, in addition to our studies," said Mary Roy, a vet student and dog rescuer.
"It is the most amazing thing to see an animal that comes in and stays, or is damaged and has to be rehabilitated that we work with, and then they leave and find amazing homes," said Gloria Rodriguez, another vet student and dog rescuer.
And now they need more of those amazing homes for some 70-plus dogs, as the vet school is under renovation for its 200 students, and the animals can't stay there during construction.
So even though this is a high school vet program, it's run like a real-life rescue, which means sadly, some of these dogs have been in kennels for years, and the clock is ticking on those adoptions.
The teens find forever homes for about 500 dogs a year, but now they will need to double that average in the next few weeks.
To find out more about the work these students do and how you can adopt one of the dogs, click here